Mail-bag fastening



( M a U W. L. BYARD & H. W. SARGENT.

MAIL BAG FASTENING Patented June 4, 1895.

T orcms PETERS no moraum NKTED WILLIAM LUCIUS BYARD ANDHENRY WYERSARGENT, OF SARGENTVILLE, MAINE.

. M'AIL-BAGIFAISTENING.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 540,577, dated June I4,1895.

Application filed December 10, 1894. Serial No. 531 ,383. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM LUoIUs BY- ARD and HENRY WYER SARGENT,citizens of the United States, residing at Sargentville, in the countyof Hancock and State of Maine,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-BagFastenings, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying 'draw- [0 ings Our invention relates tomail bags and is designed to provide a simple and effective form offastening for the open end of the bag which can be readily opened andclosed with the minimum expenditure of time and labor, A further objectis to provide for access to the entire circumference of the, mouth ofthe bag when open, and also to provide for a form ofjoint between theparts of the mouth of the bag which will securely protect the contents,'and make such a perfect fit as to make the joint practically watertight.

We have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- 2 5 Figure 1 is a perspective view of the upper end of amail-pouch containing the locking Fig. 2 shows the mouth of the pouchdevices.

open. Fig. 3 is a view of amodification, showing double-locking means.Fig. 4 is a sec- 3o tional view of the parts of the month.

In the drawings we have not illustrated the body of the pouch but onlythe upper end thereof containing the locking means and other features ofour invention, as the pouch 5 proper is of any ordinary or improvedconstruction.

Instead of providing the pouch with a flap covering the open end as isusual, we close the pouch by hinged sections A, A forming.

4.0 the mouth and hinged together at the point of juncture by rivets a,a as shown or in any other desirable or effective manner.

In order to make a protected joint between the parts of the mouth, werivet or otherwise suitably secure a tongue 1) between two pieces m andn, onone part, adapted to fit a groove 0, between the pieces 0 andp,which are preferably riveted to an intermediate piece q on the otherpart and the joint is tight enough to prevent leakage, especially whenthe parts are of leather, as the material will swell suffimannercorresponding to the guides.

- at its pivoted end bearing against the surface ciently to make a veryclose joint. Such a joint absolutely prevents the abstraction of thecontents of the pouch.

/ At each side of the bag there is aloop c by which the bag may be heldupon hooks or other supports. r

This form of mouth enables the operator to open the bag to its fullestextent in which position the sections A are horizontal and their endsabut forming a strong support for the end of the open pouch, and as thesections are stiff the pouch is held open without the use of specialmeans. The loops 0' form handles by which the mouth of the bag may beeasily opened.

To securely lock the mouth of the pouch and at the same time toprovidefor its ready handling inunlocking is an important part of ourinvention and this consists of locking parts carriedby the two sections.

On the section A we secure a hook f at one side of the center and an eyeg at the opposite side, these parts projecting over the tongue of thesection A and engaging guides secured to the other section A. The eye 9,enters between two guides h perforated to correspond with the eye g, andthe hook f also enters between guides c'. To one of the guides 7; ispivoted a locking lever It having an angularly bent end Z which engages,when the lever is down, the recess in the hookf. The lever is of alength sufficient to extend to the guides it having a turned up endperforated in a A hasp or padlock is fitted to these perforationssecuring the parts together thus locking the two sections of the bagsecurely together. The locking lever is of spring metal and the bend ofthe bag section causes a slight spring to be 7 exerted in bringing theend of the lever into line with the perforations to be locked, and whenthe bag is unlocked this spring issufficient to cause the lever to bereleased automatically and to swing clear of the hook at its pivotedend.

As shown in Fig. 3, we may duplicate the construction by the use of twolocking levers adapted to engage two hooked parts on the oppositesection, a single central eye piece entering guides as described andlocked together by the lock hasp with the free ends of the levers.

WVhat We claim is 1. The combination with a mail pouch consisting ofhinged sections, one of which is formed with a tongue riveted betweentwo pieces adapted to fit into a groove upon the other part formed bytwo pieces being riveted upon an intermediate piece, locking parts uponthe opposite sections adapted to register and a locking lever engagingone pairof said registering parts and adapted to be locked to another,substantially as described.

2. The combination with a mail pouch consisting of hinged sections,locking parts upon sisting of hinged sections, of a hook upon onesection upon one side of the center, and an eye upon the opposite side,and a hook and an eye upon the opposite section, projecting over andregistering with like parts and a locking lever pivoted at one endadapted to engage the registering parts, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a mail pouch consisting of hinged sections,having secured thereto locking parts, those upon one section beingbifurcated and projecting parts upon the opposite sections fittingbetween said bifurcations and a locking lever, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combination with a mail pouch consisting of hinged sections,locking parts upon the opposite sections adapted to register and aspring locking lever engaging one pair of said registering parts andadapted tobe locked to another, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

WILLIAM LUCIUS BYARD. HENRY l/VYER SARGENT. Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. SARGENT, GEORGE W. GRINDAL.

